Drawing
Close to God
through Study
Corné J. Bekker
Centre for Student Development
The Problem of Our Age
“Superficiality is the curse
of our age. The doctrine
of instant satisfaction is a
primary spiritual problem.
The desperate need
today is not for a greater
number of intelligent
people, or gifted people,
but for deep people.”
- Richard Foster
Making Sense of Study
“Why do we seem to think
we must choose between
the two? Why do many
Christians live as though
they've been told,
‘Choose you this day
whom you will serve:
scholarship or devotion’? I
maintain that a Biblically
balanced Christian has
both a full head and a full
heart, radiating both
spiritual light and heat.”
- Donald S Whitney
Bruce Nauman (1970) “None Sing/Neon Sign”
The Burden of Study
“In prayer, theological work is the
inner, spiritual and vertically
directed motion of man; while I
study, although similarly
external, it runs in a horizontal
direction. It is also an
intellectual, and physical, if not
fleshly, movement. Theological
work can be done only in the
indissoluble unity of prayer and
study. Prayer without study
would be empty. Study without
prayer would be blind.”
- Karl Barth
Maurizio Cattelan (1998) “If a tree falls in the forest
and there is no one around, does it make a sound?”
Defining Spirituality
“Christian Spirituality is about a
process of formation. We are
formed by, and in, Christ. It is a
form of Christ-ening – being
clothed with Christ, and so being
transformed. Our goal through
Spirituality is to grow to maturity in
Christ, to become more Christ-like
and share His nature…Christian
Spirituality is a process in which
Christ takes the initiative; it is a
‘putting’ on of Christ (Galatians
3:27) and so is a work of grace
from start to finish.”
- Kenneth Leech
Kendell Geers (2003) “Noitulover”.
The Consequence of the Fall
“After Adam had
passed through the
center of himself and
emerged on the
other side to escape
from God by putting
himself between
himself and God, he
had mentally
reconstructed the
whole universe in his
own image and
likeness.”
- Thomas Merton, The New Man
K.O. Lab (2001) “Live”
Losing Our Central Truth
“Everyone of us is
shadowed by an
illusory person: a
false self.
This is the man I want
myself to be but
cannot exist,
because God does
not know anything
about him.”
Kendell Geers (2005) “In the Garden of Eden”
- Thomas Merton, “New Seeds
of Contemplation.”
The Problem of Study
“Here then, is the real problem
of our negligence. We fail to
study God’s Word not so much
because it is difficult to
understand, not so much
because it is dull and boring,
but because it is work. Our
problem is not a lack of
intelligence or a lack of
passion. Our problem is that
we are lazy”
(Sproul, R C 1997. Knowing
Scripture. Downers Grove:
Intervarsity Press.)
The Devotional Discipline of Study
“Our age has been sadly
deficient in what may be
termed spiritual greatness. At
the root of this is the modern
disease of shallowness. We
are all too impatient to
meditate on the faith we
profess... It is not the busy
skimming over religious books
or the careless hastening
through religious duties which
makes for strong Christian
faith. Rather, it is unhurried
meditation on Gospel truths
and the exposing of our
minds to these truths that
yields the fruit of a sanctified
character.”
- Maurice Roberts
Defining the Discipline of Study
“Study is a specific
kind of experience
in which through
careful
observation of
objective
structures we
cause thought
processes to move
in a certain way.”
- Richard Foster
The Wisdom of the Ages
“Let no day pass by
without reading some
portion of the Sacred
Scriptures and giving
some space to
meditation; for nothing
feeds the soul as well
as those sacred studies
do.”
- Theonas of Alexandria (c. 300)
(From the Epistles of Theonas)
The Wisdom of the Ages
“It easy to see that
the Sacred
Scriptures, which so
far surpass all gifts
and graces of
human endeavor,
breathe something
Divine.”
- John Calvin (1509-1564)
(From the Institutes of Christian Religion)
The Wisdom of the Ages
“At any price, give
me the Book of
God! Here is
knowledge enough
for me. In God’s
presence I open. I
read this book, for
this end: to find the
Way to Heaven.”
John Wesley (1703-1791)
(From Sermons on Several Occasions)
The Wisdom of the Ages
“In our meditation we
ponder the chosen text
on the strength of the
promise that it has
something utterly
personal to say to us for
this day and for our
Christian life.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945)
(From Life Together)
The Wisdom of the Ages
“I thoroughly believe in a
University
education…but I
believe a knowledge of
the Bible without a
college course is more
valuable than a college
course without the Bible.
Everyone who has a
thorough knowledge of
the Bible may truly be
called educated.”
Dr. William Lyon Phelps of Yale University
How to Study?
“We must face the fact that
many today are
notoriously careless in
their living. This attitude
finds its way into the
church. We have liberty,
we have money, we live
in comparative luxury. As
a result, discipline has
disappeared. What would
a violin solo sound like if
the strings on the
musician's instrument
were all hanging loose,
not stretched tight, not
‘disciplined’?”
- A. W. Tozer
How to Study?
Repetition
Concentration
Comprehension
Reflection
Repetition
“Repetition is a way of
regularly channeling
the mind in a specific
direction, thus
ingraining habits of
thought. Repetition has
received something of
a bad name today. It is
important, however, to
realize that sheer
repetition without even
understanding what is
being repeated does
affect the inner mind.”
- Richard Foster
Repetition
“Everything is habit in biology,
and habits are created only
by means of repetition.
Experiments have shown how
much of our behavior is
determined by the mental
images to which our minds
are constantly returning.
If we bring our minds back again
and again to God, we shall
by the same inevitable law
be gradually giving the
central place to God, not
only in our inner selves, but
also in our practical everyday
lives.”
-Paul Tournier
Concentration
“Concentration centers the mind.
It focuses the attention on the
thing being studied. The human
mind has incredible ability to
concentrate. It is constantly
receiving thousands of stimuli,
every one of which it is able to
store in its memory banks while
focusing on only a few. This
natural ability of the brain is
enhanced when with singleness
of purpose we centre our
attention upon a desired object
of study.”
- Richard Foster
Concentration
“I have learned to distrust
speed reading and instant
knowledge. Few joys of the
mind can compare with the
experience of lingering over
deft character description, or
hovering over a well-wrought
passage. ‘Some people’, said
Alexander Pope, ‘will never
learn anything, because
they understand everything
too soon.’”
- Norman Cousins
Comprehension
“Comprehension leads to
insight and discernment. It
provides the basis for a true
perception of reality. When
we not only repeatedly
focus the mind in a
particular direction,
centering our attention on
the subject, but understand
the ‘what’ we are studying,
we reach a new level.”
- Richard Foster
Kendell Geers (2005) “John 8:32”
Comprehension
“To be informed is to know
simply that something is
the case. To understand is
to know, in addition, what
it is all about: why it is the
case, what its
connections are with
other facts, in what
respect it is the same, in
what respect it is different,
and so forth.”
- Mortimer Adler
Bruce Nauman (1975) “AH/HA”
Reflection
“To reflect, to ruminate,
on the events of our
time will lead us to
the inner reality of
those events.
Reflection brings us
to see things from
God's perspective. In
reflection we come
to understand not
only our subject
matter, but
ourselves.”
- Richard Foster
Reflection
“To take a book of the Bible,
to immerse one's self in it
and to be grasped by it, is
to have one's life literally
revolutionized. This requires
study and the training of
attention. The student
stays with it through barren
day after barren day, until
at last the meaning is
clear, and transformation
happens in his life.”
- Elizabeth O’Conner
What Should I Study?
Verbal Sources
Non-Verbal
Sources
What Should I Study?
“He that studies only men,
will get the body of
knowledge without the
soul; and he that
studies only books, the
soul without the body.
He that, to what he
sees, adds observation,
and to what he reads,
reflection, is in the right
road to knowledge,
provided that in
scrutinizing the hearts of
others, he neglects not
his own...”
- Caleb Colton
Study and Prayer
“Study is
prayer and
prayer is
study”
- Martin Luther
The Ancient Disciplines of Unceasing Prayer
“When the Spirit has come to
reside in someone, that person
cannot stop praying; for the
Spirit prays without ceasing in
him. No matter if he is asleep
or awake, prayer is going on in
his heart all the time. He may
be eating or drinking, me may
be resting or working – the
incense of prayer will ascend
spontaneously from his heart.
The slightest stirring of his heart
is like a voice which sings in
silence and in secret to the
Invisible.” – Isaac the Syrian
Unceasing Prayer
“Let the
memory of
Jesus combine
with your
breath”
– John of the Ladder
Unceasing Prayer: The Apostle Paul
“Pray without ceasing….” – 1 Thessalonians 5:17
“Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in
prayer….” – Romans 12:12
“Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and
supplication….” – Ephesians 6:18
“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in with it
thanksgiving….” – Colossians 4:2
“Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made
known to God.” – Philippians 4:6
Unceasing Prayer: The Jesus Prayer
“Jesus,
Savior,
Son of God,
have mercy on me.”
- based on Luke 18:13
The Quest of Study
“My life shall
be a real life,
being wholly
full of Thee.”
- Augustine of Hippo
Drawing
close to God
through Study
Corné J. Bekker
Centre for Student Development